Nov. 19, 2004
Allard Beutel
Headquarters, Washington
(Phone: 202/358-4769)
Kyle Herring
Johnson Space Center, Houston
(Phone: 281/483-5111)
Veronica McGregor
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
(Phone 818/354-9452)
RELEASE: 04-381
HUMAN, ROBOTIC PROGRAMS SHARE LESSONS LEARNED FOR SUCCESS
Members of NASA's human and robotic programs are cooperating in new
ways to support the Vision for Space Exploration. The Vision calls
for a "building block" strategy of human and robotic missions to
reach new exploration goals. The first step in the Vision is
returning the Space Shuttle safely to flight.
Image left: The Space Shuttle Program Mission Management Team conducts
training from the Mission Control Center in preparation for
Discovery's Return to Flight mission. Click for larger image. Credit:
NASA/Johnson Space Center
To that end, managers from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL),
Pasadena, Calif., who directed the Mars Exploration Rover missions,
are sharing their experience and insight with managers from NASA's
Space Shuttle Program. This week, those JPL managers took part in a
practice session by Shuttle mission managers at NASA's Johnson Space
Center (JSC) in Houston. It's part of a continuing exchange of best
practices. Earlier this year, Deputy Space Shuttle Program Manager
Wayne Hale traveled to JPL to observe mission operations during the
critical periods of landing the Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and
Opportunity, on Mars.
"I observed the management team for the Mars rovers during some high
activity periods," said Hale. "There certainly are some parallels in
dealing with real time operations between human and remote robotic
missions. One of those parallels is both types of programs must take
the time to work through problems by getting input from all available
resources before making decisions."
Hale chairs the Space Shuttle Mission Management Team that will
oversee operations of the Shuttle during its Return to Flight
mission, designated STS-114.
Following up on Hale's visit, members of the Mars rover team have
observed the Shuttle management team in action and will provide
feedback to the Shuttle team, as well as take lessons learned back to
the Mars Program at JPL.
"Even though we deal with spacecraft millions of miles farther away,
our management philosophy is similar to that of human spaceflight,"
said Pete Theisinger, former project manager for the Mars Exploration
Rover Mission and current project manager for the 2009 Mars Science
Laboratory mission. "Ultimately we are one team striving for mission
success through detailed analysis," he said.
The full membership of the Shuttle Mission Management Team took part
in this week's four-day practice session, their longest simulation
thus far. The practice exercised the team's capability to provide
timely and appropriate evaluation and input on issues that arose
throughout the simulation.
"The Shuttle Mission Management Team focused its attention on a wide
range of issues throughout this four-day simulation that required
decisions dealing with hardware problems as well as programmatic
issues," said Hale. "The team is peaking in its training at just
about the right time as Discovery's mission draws closer," he added.
For more information about NASA's Return to Flight efforts, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/returntoflight
For more information about the Vision for Space Exploration, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/missions/solarsystem/explore_main.html
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